DEALS

Two women dead in home fire in Hudson

2/3/2014 Hudson, Fl. 596836 HUDSON FIRE
Two women were killed in a fire at a Hudson home this morning as a neighbor tried to pull one of the victims to safety. Jessica Keith and her roommate, Amber Lynn Jordan, both 24, died in the fire, the sheriffís office said
CLIFF MCBRIDE/STAFF

HUDSON — Two women were killed in a fire at a Hudson home this morning as a neighbor tried to pull one of the victims to safety, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office said.

Firefighters received a call about 7 a.m. and responded to 14235 Pine St., the sheriff’s office said.

Jessica Keith and her roommate, Amber Lynn Jordan, both 24, died in the fire, the sheriff’s office said.

The home, which is elevated with a garage on the lower floor and the living space upstairs, sits on the corner of Pine Street and Port Hudson Boulevard.

Neighbor Josh Smith said his girlfriend, Jessica Williams, woke him with her screams after seeing the fire. The couple lives about 100 yards away from the house that caught fire.

Smith said he ran from his home to help. He climbed the stairs to the rear door and found one of the women partially out of the door.

“First thing I come out to do … I wanted to help. They’re my neighbors,” Smith said. “The flames were shooting out the doors. The back door was off and the girl was laying out the back door half way, on fire.

“She was on [fire] still and I grabbed her arms to try and get her out. At the same time, the flames were burning me.”

Smith suffered burns to his right hand, which was later fully bandaged. He also had singed hair on his arms and on top of his head.

He said Keith and Jordan had lived at the house for less than a month.

Smith and Williams said there also was a small dog in a cage inside the home, which fire rescue members pulled from the house and attempted to resuscitate, but could not save.

After pulling the first woman out of the door to the patio, Smith said he yelled, asking if anyone else was in the home. The billowing smoke and flames pushed him back, he said.

Smith said he and his girlfriend spoke to Jordan and Keith on Sunday. The women offered to help Smith and Williams move to a nearby home. Williams said she and her boyfriend invited the pair to a cookout.

Williams said the flames were so intense that they caused the windows to melt.

“I’ve never seen a window melt,” Williams said. “It didn’t bust, it didn’t crack, it melted ... Never seen that in my life.”

Tom Jackson

Tom Jackson’s baseball card — if he had one — would report he throws left, writes right. In his columns and blog, “The Right Stuff,” southpaw Jackson provides insight into the evolving human condition from a distinctly conservative point of view.Column | Blog